Books Read

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Blog Tour: A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis by Irene Woodbury

This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.

The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.

She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters. Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot. Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss. Paige and Serena are two
twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with. Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.

And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston. Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s! Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover? ~~from author's website

My thoughts on A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis ~~

First thing I have to say - I wanna go to Vegas! This book was so much fun and Vegas sounds like it would be a blast.

Wendy goes to Vegas for a weekend with her best friend and ends up staying for a couple of years. That sounds like something we would all do, right? Not! But if we were honest with ourselves, wouldn't it be something we would like to be able to do? I know I would!

This book goes into a lot of detail about Vegas and talks about the places, the acts and the people. It's kind of like a travel guide for visitors or if someone had already been to Vegas, it would be a walk down memory lane.

Wendy becomes a very likable character in the story and I have to admire her for sticking to her guns by not going back to a situation that made her unhappy. She forged ahead and carved out a life for herself and pursued a dream. If that is a mid-life crisis, then we should all have one.

I was never really sure how the story was going to end up and what choices Wendy was going to make until the very end. It was kind of like a mystery, I had to keep reading to see how it ended. Great job on that Ms. Woodbury!

So like I mentioned above, this book really made me want to go to Vegas - anyone want to go with me?